Heart To Heart || Neteyam Sully

21. The Spring

"Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight."

Eiwa's POV

"Eiwa," Kiri stood up and crossed her arms as I shamelessly ran towards her. "Where have you been? You're nearly fifteen minutes late."

"I know," I said breathily. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time—"

"With my brother?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Ye— What?" I stopped as I realized what she just said. "No. I meant no. I was with Tsireya's brother."

"Were you?"

"I—" I gave up and exhaled a shaky breath. "You know something, don't you?"

"You two are not as slick as you think you are," Kiri shrugged and sat back down on the rock we had promised to meet up at. I sat next to her.

"How?"

"I saw you earlier." Kiri had a rather disgusted look on her face now. "With none other than Neteyam all over you."

"Damn it," I groaned. "Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't," Kiri smiled. "I'll pretend that whatever it is you have between you two do not exist, because I cannot imagine someone actually liking my brother."

"C'mon," I rolled my eyes. "He's not that bad."

"He is," she gave me a look.

"You only say that because he's your brother," I pointed out.

"Alright! Enough about my brother," Kiri responded. "I asked you to come to ask about..."

"About?" I raised my brows in anticipation.

"Don't look at me like that!" Kiri suddenly said.

"Like what?" I smiled and it struck me. It's about a boy. Must be.

"It's very... private, so I would appreciate it if it stays between the two of us. Just the two of us," she looked at me and pursed her lips.

"I promise to keep whatever secret this is," I held up my pinky.

Kiri stared at my finger blankly.

"Here," I took her hand and made her hold up her own pinky before locking it with mine. "This is a gesture that means I promise. A pinky promise, or pinky swear."

"Right," Kiri nodded. "Now I don't want you to judge."

"I won't," I smiled at her.

"I used to have this friend," she began. "We used to spend every day together, but now I don't even know if he is still alive or not. And it worries me. A lot."

"Spider?"

"Yes," Kiri bit her lips. "Spider." Kiri continued to talk about her dear friend spider for a while. She likes him more than just a friend, but I didn't say anything. I bet she's going to realize soon enough.

Dinner came by and we made our way to get some food. I found myself searching for someone amongst the crowd. Neteyam was nowhere to be seen. I told him to meet me at dinner. I even saved a seat for him beside me, which I did not regret saving since he eventually appeared. I had already finished half of my dinner by then.

"Hey," Neteyam joined in. I saw Kiri eyeing him for a second before continuing to converse with Rotxo and Tsireya who sat across from her.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Helping my dad with some of his technology stuff," he answered. "Why? Are you afraid that tonight will be canceled?" Neteyam smirked.

I widened my eyes and before I could say anything, he had placed a hand on my thigh, "Don't worry, darling. You'll get it."

"Get what?" A voice came from behind the both of us, prompting me to remove Neteyam's hand off of me.

"Lo'ak!" I exclaimed in surprise as I moved to the side to give him space between Neteyam and I. "Get dessert."

"We have dessert?!" Lo'ak beamed. I could see Neteyam running his finger through his hair behind him.

I could only nod and smile, "I heard someone talk about it." I quickly returned to my food to avoid further questions. The rest of dinner went by in the usual way, with Lo'ak doing most of the talking. The crowd began to disperse. Neytiri, Tuk and Kiri had decided to head back for an early sleep, while Jake continued to talk to Tonowari. Lo'ak was with Tsireya. That leaves Neteyam and I the perfect opportunity to leave.

"So?" I raised my brows and pursed my lips in anticipation. "Where is this place you were talking about?"

Neteyam smiled, "It's a bit far."

"It should be," I pointed out. "Considering that you said no one would go there in the middle of the night."

"Right," he nodded and took my hand as he pulled me into the forests. We continued to walk through the forest with no specific path till we reached a light source that comes from a— "A spring?" I looked up at him. "I didn't know they had a spring."

"I'm sure not all of them know about this place, or they would've built a path here," he smiled proudly.

"Now what exactly are we supposed to do?" I asked.

"We swim."

"Swim?"

He nodded and went in the water. "Don't worry. It's warm."

I dipped one of my feet in to test the water. Neteyam pulled me inside which caused me to let out a small shriek. I quickly closed my mouth with a hand, and the other to give him a hit on the chest. But before it reached his chest, Neteyam had caught it. I looked at him as he used his other hand to lower down the hand I had covering my mouth. His eyes were much more beautiful with the light from the spring. It was glowing, making it clearer that his pupil is dilating. He got closer. And closer.

I could feel his heavy breath on my face, "I told you not to worry, darling. No one would be able to hear us from here." He connected our lips, which led me to let out a gasp. It wasn't the first time we kissed, but it felt new? Perhaps more aggressive would be a way to describe it. I felt his hand move to cup my face and another on my lower back as he pulled me closer to him, pressing our bodies together.

Of course, I had to return the kiss. I placed my arms around his neck as he lifted me up by my legs. Once it reached his waist, I wrapped them around him, letting him have his hands free again to roam around. I felt his tail securing my legs as he pulled me even closer to him with both his arms on my back. Then I felt him slightly tugging my hair. What I thought was already heated enough continued to something more.

The next thing I know, my upper body was bare with my top lying somewhere beside the spring. Neteyam had brought the both of us to settle on a stone underneath the water that acts like a chair for the both of us. I was on top of him, running my fingers through his hair, which would most likely need to be re-done tomorrow. I had one leg each on his sides, while he had his hands on my hips. "Eywa," Neteyam groaned as I felt something beneath me.

We both separated to take a breath, looking into each other's eyes. "Do you want to—" Neteyam started. All I could do was nod and kiss him again.

Let's just say that we both had a wonderful time that night.